Jean Villeneuve

Jean Villeneuve (1733-) was a Major in the French Army during the American Revolutionary War. In 1780, he was sent to help train the American colonial militia in South Carolina, assisting Benjamin Martin with fighting his guerrilla war against the British.

Biography
Jean Villeneuve was born in France in 1733, and he became an officer in the French 7th Light Foot. During the American Revolutionary War, he watched the British Royal Navy fire on a ship carrying his wife and his daughters Violette and Pauline, helplessly watching as they burned alive. Villeneuve was left with a hatred of the British, and he volunteered to head to South Carolina in 1780 to help train the American colonial militia under Harry Burwell. While he held a grudge against Benjamin Martin, the "Hero of Fort Wilderness", he was sent to become his second-in-command and to assist him in training his own militia recruits. Villeneuve was criticized by Martin for encouraging his men to kill surrendering British troops, and Martin responded by threatening to have Villeneuve shot for disobeying his orders. The two would later become good friends, as Martin and Villeneuve related their experiences of both losing two children to the British. They fought side-by-side at the Battle of Cowpens and the Siege of Yorktown in 1780 and 1781, and Villeneuve and Martin parted on good terms, with Villeneuve returning to France.